


Glad You Didn't Listen When The World Was Trying To Slow Me

by ChloeGreen1998



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: AU, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, M/M, Sad with a Happy Ending, i'm sorry in advance, its angsty and sad, oikawa doesn’t play volleyball, the only cannon is Iwaizumi becoming a coach lol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:33:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27165947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChloeGreen1998/pseuds/ChloeGreen1998
Summary: Oikawa has spent most of his life fighting for his life between the people he's gotten himself involved with and the bad habits he's picked up, he thinks that the end of his life is nearing. Iwaizumi is just trying his hardest to succeed through university until he meets a soaked and hurting Oikawa on the street outside his dorm.(I know the prologue is really short but I promise the chapters will indeed be very long)
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Hanamaki Takahiro/Matsukawa Issei, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Kindaichi Yuutarou/Kunimi Akira, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Semi Eita/Shirabu Kenjirou
Comments: 8
Kudos: 12





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Caffeinevampire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caffeinevampire/gifts).



Oikawa could see Hinata run up for the toss out of the corner of his eye but most of him was looking towards the bench where Iwaizumi was. He could see the his hands clinging onto the bench like his life depended on it, could see the frown lines etched onto his face but he still thought that he was the most beautiful looking person in the world. His heart fluttered for different reasons than the fans sitting around him also watching the current game of volleyball going on in front of them. 

It was beginning to feel like all of the sound had been sucked out of the room as they watched the ball hit Hinata's hand, as they watched the blockers jump up to hit it. As Oikawa watched Iwaizumi hold his breath but this was no time for stress. Japan were about to win this game and Iwaizumi was going to officially be known as the best volleyball coach in the world and Oikawa was going to be the proudest fiance in the world. 

Oikawa just couldn't believe that he'd made it here, to this gym, to being in his late twenties when he thought that his life was going to end when he was eighteen at the very latest but Iwaizumi had come into his life and changed it forever and that's what this story is really about. Tooru Oikawa and the man that managed to save him.


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a drug reference in this chapter so if that triggers you please tread with caution!!

Toru Oikawa is a well known name on the streets of Tokyo, some people thought he was pathetic, some people feared him, some people had no idea who he was. At the end of the day, Toru Oikawa was only a well known name on the streets of Tokyo if you ran in the right, well maybe the wrong, circles. He was sneaky, known for being the person to collect money after a job well done. He kept himself to the shadows, only making himself known to those who needed to pay up, that was his deal. Oikawa had no interest in getting his hands dirty, he only had interest in collecting the money and maybe keeping some for himself but nobody needed to know that, if they did, Oikawa's eighteen years would come to an end faster than he could spout his gangs name.

"Toru, come," Toru could practically feel his heart fall into his stomach. You'd think that being in the same gang since he was thirteen, he'd be used to their boss calling him into his office, all he ever wanted was to tell him to go and collect but that didn't stop the strong sense of dread that always lingered within the teenager. "I need you to go and collect from Washijo, before you say anything, I know what he's like but he won't give up even after we killed the person after his life, so buck up and go get our fucking money." 

"Yes sir," Toru's voice was barely above a whisper, fear already curling in the pit of his stomach. Washijo was indeed a hard to please client, always trying to skim them when it came to paying up. Sending his main man in to try and scare Toru into letting them off payments. The thought of Ushijima was at the forefront of Toru's head as he swiftly exited the office that he'd come to dread so much. He bypassed all of the drinking and card games that seemed to be going on within the other members as he craved the cool breeze on his face before he headed off to try and get the money he so desperately needed.

The breeze picked up as soon as Oikawa made his first steps outside, for a few minutes he just stood, eyes closed, head against the wall trying to ignore the itching in his body for one last cigarette that was maybe filled with something a little stronger than nicotine. It's a habit he'd picked up when he first joined the gang, the older members pushing him towards it and he'd kept it up until he was sixteen and it had started to make him sick from the cravings he constantly had for it which made him lose himself on jobs and that resulted in being beaten. Two years later, he still occasionally got the craving for the substance when he was the most stressed out on the job. He let his fingernails dig into his palms as he let the feeling wash over him and get himself back in control of himself. 

Shiratorizawa located themselves a good hour walk away from where Toru was located but he needed the walk to cool his own head. He had been doing this for five years and he didn't hate it any less, you'd think he'd get used to it but no, the only reason he was here was because his parents kicked him out as they decided they'd had enough of him. Sure, the money was pretty good and he had protection but he wanted out, he wanted to live some semblance of a normal life, wanted to meet the man of his dreams and do normal things, he didn't want to walk the streets every night to go and collect money from mob bosses.

The whole room seemed to descend into silence when the members of Shiratorizawa saw who was standing in their doorway, the easy smirk on his face. Shirabu Kenjiro, one of Oikawa's most hated people was staring him down, a look of pure venom and hatred swirling around his eyes. Next to him, Semi Eita had his hand on one of Shirabu's most prominent tattoos that was poking out from underneath his sleeve. Oikawa had to admit, he loved the feeling of power he got when he saw the people that feared him, when he could quiet a whole room just by turning up. His signature smirk was well known throughout the gangs of Tokyo and he couldn't say he absolutely hated that honestly. He stepped further into the room, ignoring the stare of his biggest rival from the corner. The Oikawa/Ushijima rivalry was well known throughout the gangs of Tokyo, everyone knew to walk on the other side of the street if they saw the two of them facing up to one another. As much as Oikawa hated Ushijima, he couldn't help the small feeling of fear that always ran through him when he saw the man, he had quite a few scars from when Ushijima had become too friendly with a knife in Oikawa's presence but then again, he knew that Ushijima had a similar amount of scars littered over his body from Oikawa. The two of them stared each other down for a few minutes before Ushijima's shadow, Satori Tendou appeared at his side, a broad smile across his face, his arms crossed. To anyone else, it may be seen as an open, almost warming gesture but Oikawa knew the true meaning of that smile.

"Why Toru Oikawa, and what do we owe the pleasure?"

"Cut the shit, Tendou, you know I'm here to see Washijo, he seems to think he can keep getting away with not paying up." 

"I honestly don't know what you mean Oikawa, do you know what he means Ushijima?" Before he gave the other a chance to carry on, Tendou's voice was reaching Oikawa once more. "Well, he's down in the basement but I'm not sure you'll want to walk in on what he's doing." That same sense of cold dread washed over Oikawa's body and it took everything within to not show the fear on his face, whenever Washijo was up to something, it normally involved some kind of torture. "Good luck," Tendou sneered as Oikawa headed down to the basement.

Oikawa could smell the thick metallic of blood before he even reached the bottom of the stairs. His fingers digged into his palms before he managed to put his smirk back on his face. He lurked in the shadow of the basement, watching the proceedings as Washijo twirled a knife in his hand, the blood was currently pouring from the man in front of him in the form of a deep cut in the man's torso. Oikawa kept the cringe from his face as his eyes followed Washijo as he once again stepped closer to the man.

"Now now, Washijo, you make us kill someone for you yet here you are, torturing a man, why not just save yourself the money and do it yourself."

"Oikawa, and what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Money. You're overdue." 

"Ah, that old man sent you."

"How much longer do you think you can get away with scamming us Washijo?" Venom dripped from Oikawa's tone as he leaned against the exposed brick wall. He watched Washijo's expression change a couple of times before he turned his cold, hard stare back on the teenager. "Shall I wait in your office for you to be done here or have you got some blood money stored in here somewhere?"

"Ushijima, take Oikawa to my office." Oikawa stopped dead, he hadn't heard Ushijima come into the room, he should have done. Oikawa had expert hearing especially when it came to his rival and the fact that he hadn't heard him come in unsettled Oikawa more than he was willing to admit. He didn't want to take his eyes away from Washijo especially with that knife in his hand but he couldn't help himself turning towards the man now blocking his exit. "And make sure he doesn't steal anything, your boss might not know that you always steal money for yourself Oikawa but we sure do."

Oikawa had mastered the smirk especially when being told hard information, he didn't react to Washijo's accusation, just plastered his smirk back on and followed Ushijima out of the room to the sound of a scream from the man he had almost forgotten about.

-

"You can have thrived here you know, Oikawa?" Oikawa turned his best scowl towards Ushijima, this is where their rivalry had started. They'd known each other when they were thirteen and were close until they chose to go separate ways and Ushijima still thought Oikawa should have followed him to Shiratorizawa. "You should have followed me to Shiratorizawa, better pay and better protection plus you could have bought the best out in some of our more reluctant members."

"If your protection is so good then how come we had to kill someone who was trying to kill your boss? The protection here is no better than it is at Seijoh so I don't really know what your point is. You just wanted to dictate my life just like everyone else thinks they can, and, you think I could get the best out of Shirabu? Absolutely not. And I would have started at the same as Semi, you would have lost him if I'd come here too."

"Collateral damage."

"Does he know that's what you think of him?" 

"It wouldn't make any difference if he did. If you hadn't noticed, we're in gangs."

"Believe me, I know that better than anyone." And he did, Toru couldn't remember the last time he'd slept for more than an hour at a time. Always scared someone that he'd got pay from would come and get payback. That someone from his own gang would work out that he was stealing little bits of money so he could make his escape and the boss would send them to kill him. It's not like this is what he wanted, he never asked to be part of a gang, he was desperate and about to die, it was his only chance to survive past thirteen.

"And what will you do when your gang work out what you've been doing?"

"They won't," Oikawa answered a little too quickly, showing off how nervous he truly was. He hated that he had to do this that he had to scam money from the people that had kept him alive, that no matter how hard he tried to get rid of the dread constantly curling in his stomach, he couldn't get past the fact that Ushijima really terrified him to his very core. Every time they were in this kind of situation, he swore he could still feel the burn of all of the scars littered across his body.

"If they ever do, don't come crawling to us."

"I'd rather take my own life than come here."

"They'll do that for you." Oikawa knew that, of course he did. If anyone ever found out what he was doing, he'd be dead meat before he could even blink. He knew who would do it too and that just made him feel more anxious around them and he knew that they were suspicious that he was constantly up to something when they were in the same room.

"Now, now Ushijima, down boy." Washijo's cold voice broke the silence that had been building up between the pair. Ushijima stared into Oikawa for two more seconds before turning to his boss. 

"Of course," his gruff voice muffled when he bowed. Oikawa swore he could feel his bones rattling when the door slammed, leaving him in a room with one of the people he feared the most. Washijo was known for being an evil bastard, he was good at torture and getting information from people, good at scamming people out of their money and leaving no traces behind. The two of them had come into contact early in Oikawa's career when him and Ushijima had faced off for the first time. Washijo had made sure Oikawa had lost that fight with a knife to the ribs, the scar was still the most prominent on his body.

"So Oikawa, it's funny that the old man knows you fear me so deeply yet always sends you to get money from me. Why is that?"

"It's my job." Oikawa crossed his arms across his chest to try and show the confidence he was so quickly loosing. 

"Oh right and I guess stealing is also part of your job?" Washijo let out a low chuckle as he saw the panic set in Oikawa's eyes. "Don't worry. I won't tell, I'd rather play this game of cat and mouse with you. How long do you think you'll be able to keep this up huh?"

"As long as I need to to get out of here."

"Is that so? And who says the old man will let you leave? You may think you can run away but you know he'll find you." If Oikawa was being honest with himself, he knew that was true. He knew that he would never truly get away from this, knew that he'd always be found even if he ran to the other side of the world. Argentina was the country Oikawa had his sight set on, it was beautiful and he wanted to make a life for himself over there, maybe pick up a sport. Volleyball had always appealed to him the most but he knew that it's a reality that would never be his. 

"I can try."

"Such confidence from such a mousy teenager. We'll see won't we?" Washijo reached into a draw of his desk, pulling out a small case and Oikawa knew what was inside it. The money. Enough money for him to get out here but he couldn't take it all, he wasn't insane. "Here you go, run along little boy." 

Oikawa didn't want to turn his back on the man, not when he had seen what he'd done downstairs to that man, he knew more than most what the old man was capable of and it made his stomach turn. 

"And Oikawa?" He turned his head slightly so Washijo knew he was listening. "Be careful for the knife that is constantly in your back, won't you?" 

He wanted nothing more than to just take the money and run. Walking the streets of Tokyo with a suitcase full of cash never felt like a safe thing to be doing to Toru but he also knew he had the skills to end anyone who came to try and take it from him. Washijo's departing sentence kept swimming around in his head, he knew something that Oikawa didn't. Had Seijoh figured out what he was doing and what was going on? The door to their hideout came into his sight way too quickly for Oikawa's liking. He wasn't ready for this. He quickly opened the case and stuffed some bills into his jacket pocket before taking a deep breathe and entering the place he hated the most. 

It seemed the same as when he had left a little shy of four hours ago. The drinking and card games were still going on, leaving Oikawa to wonder who would jump in to protect everyone in the scenario of an ambush but that thought quickly left his brain when his eyes caught the stony look on his boss' face. He caught the slick nod towards his office and Oikawa was sure his heart had skipped a beat. Even though he knew all that was happening was him giving the money over, he still couldn't help the fear that lived deep within his bones.

"Ah, I see you've bought the goods." Oikawa nodded, placing the suitcase full of cash onto his boss' desk. His eyes kept flicking towards the door, planning on making his escape as soon as possible. "Before you go Oikawa, why don't you take a seat? There's something that we should discuss." 

"Is it a promotion? Because I've told you before, I'm fine where I am."

His boss chuckled darkly before he reached down and pulled out a metal tin, it had a volleyball hastily painted on it. Oikawa could recognise it straight away, it's the one that he'd picked up from some bins behind his apartment and hid all of his cash in. His eyes flicked to the door again but now he could see the outline of two people stood outside there, blocking his escape route. Oikawa was pretty sure he could feel vomit in the back of his throat but he kept his face as neutral as possible as he looked at the tin in front of him. That's why he'd been sent out in the dead of night, so they could search his apartment and confirm the suspicion that he knew a couple of them had. If Oikawa could move, he'd snatch the tin and run but he knew that would never work for him anyway.

"Now Oikawa, early tonight some of the team found this in your apartment. We've noticed recently that everytime you go out to get money, we somehow get scammed and I know that isn't because you don't get it from them because you're the best this gang has to offer in that department so that turned our suspicion to you. I didn't believe it at first. Not you. Not the teenager that I saved five years ago when he was almost beaten to death, surely not? But it appears I am wrong. So, when I count that cash in that suitcase I'm guessing I'll find the same thing, some money missing. Not too much that I'd notice straight away because that's what you've been doing isn't it?"

Oikawa's mouth had completely dried out. He was sure that this wasn't real life, it couldn't be. He was in a nightmare and was going to wake up any second. He'd been so careful. Unless Ushijima had told them.

"And when a note arrived last week from an unknown source with handwriting so similar to Ushijima, I knew my suspicions had been completely confirmed."

"I-I can explain."

"There's no need Oikawa, there's no need, shh," he whispered, pressing a hand to Oikawa's cheek. Oikawa knew better than to move a single muscle when the blow to his cheek finally arrived. He could feel the blood in his mouth but didn't dare do anything about it. "Now Oikawa, I'm just so very disappointed."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here we go, the first chapter! I'm actually really proud with how this turned out! I know that this is really intense and I can't promise it's going to any lighter for a while but I hope you enjoyed it none the less!! Also, Iwaizumi will be in the next chapter so that's something to look forward to!!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!!!  
> Welcome to my Haikyuu AU fic!!  
> IwaOi is literally my favourite ship in the world honestly and Oikawa is my biggest comfort character with Iwa not far behind and I've had this idea for about a year now and I feel like it's actually time to write it ya know? I can't promise an actual upload schedule but I want to upload at least once a week, probably on Fridays but I'll have the first chapter up hopefully before the end of the weekend!
> 
> This prologue is to show that no matter how bad and dark things get in this fic then I promise they get a happy ending because the last thing we need in 2020 is fics where Oikawa dies okay?


End file.
